Possible bump structure of cosmic ray electrons unveiled by AMS-02 data

Pei-pei Zhang, Bing-qiang Qiao, Wei Liu, Shu-wang Cui, Qiang Yuan, Yi-qing Guo

Published 2021-01-01Version 1

The precise measurement of the positron spectrum by AMS-02 reveals a sharp dropoff above $\sim 284$ GeV. However, the AMS-02 electron spectrum shows a power-law from $\sim 40$ GeV to $\sim 1$ TeV without significant features. We propose that the difference of spectral features between electrons and positrons indicates the existence of a nearby source component of primary electrons. Taking into account the observational results of the positron excess, the spectral softenings of cosmic ray protons and helium nuclei, and the energy-dependences of the large-scale anisotropies of cosmic rays, we suggest that the scenario of supernova remnant origin of cosmic rays with non-negligible contribution from a nearby source can successfully account for most of the observations of cosmic rays below PeV energies. The Geminga pulsar and its past supernova remnant might be a proper candidate of the nearby source.